Top former Italian politicians and policemen have gone on trial alongside Mafia godfathers in Sicily, BBC News said.

Prosecutors allege that representatives of the state made secret deals with the gangsters in an effort to halt a series of deadly bombings in the early 1990s.

Ex-interior minister Nicola Mancino protested on Monday at being tried alongside Mafia bosses like the infamous Toto Riina.

"I have always fought the Mafia," he insisted. "I can't be in the same trial as where there is Mafia. I have confidence and hope that justice will be done, and that I can be out of the trial as soon as possible," he said.

He is accused of giving false testimony to prosecutors investigating the case - charges he denies.

Another former minister, Calogero Mannino, is also being put on trial.

The witnesses may include top figures like President Giorgio Napolitano.